Ten years ago, DC Mayor Anthony Williams famously set a goal of attracting 100,000 new DC residents within a decade. Pundits scoffed, but the latest population estimates show we made it closer than most imagined possible.
The official US Census population estimate for DC in 2003 was 563,384. The latest estimate for 2013 is 646,449. That’s an increase of 83,065.
In… Keep reading…

“Gentrification is a word urbanists and people in this area banter about,” said former Mayor Anthony Williams at a panel discussion last night, “but neighborhoods are like children. They need attention differently.”
No one size fits all. Williams said residents in Upper Northwest “just want services and not development.” Meanwhile… Keep reading…

The District is changing, as people in their 20s and 30s seek to live in walkable urban neighborhoods their parents and grandparents moved away from. Yet the idea that “everyone” will choose a car-dependent lifestyle, and thus all transportation policy should cater to that lifestyle over all others, still persists.
I recently was invited to watch a panel discussion… Keep reading…

I want former DC Mayor Anthony Williams to run for president.
I don’t actually want Williams to be the next president. Nor do I want him to seek the nomination of either party or run a national campaign. I want him to run to win the 3 electoral votes for DC, and only those votes—as a protest against, and to draw attention to, the secondary status of DC residents. Framed as… Keep reading…

The author is Conservation Chair of the DC Sierra Club and a member of the Board of Directors of the national Sierra Club.
From an environmental standpoint, the decision between Adrian Fenty and Vincent Gray is not difficult. Fenty has repeatedly disappointed with his budget, personnel, and regulatory decisions, while Gray has been the greenest Chairman ever.
Four years… Keep reading…